Legal Education in Scotland
In our first few days we spent a majority of our time with the academic faculty and resided at the University of Aberdeen. Spending time with Dr. Simpson [University of Aberdeen Senior Lecturer Dr. Andrew Simpson, LLB, LLM, Ph.D.,] while learning about Scottish legal history was extremely informative and provided a sufficient context for understanding the legal framework in which Scotland currently exists.
Beyond learning in the classroom I was most intrigued by the academic processes that occur in Scotland.
During the trip I was able to talk to our student ambassador who was a Ph.D. student named Stephanie. She told me about how education (the first degree) was free to everyone in Scotland and walked me through the process of how one becomes a professor. She said that currently there are only 100 professors in Scotland and the title is reserved for people who are the leaders in their specialty.
The differences between our educational system and theirs were fascinating. By far the biggest contrast is the legal education. For us it is a professional and secondary degree, but for them it is an undergraduate degree. In some ways it helps to stratify those who wish to pursue higher education and pedagogy and those who wish to enter into the legal profession in a more pragmatic sense.